The Awakening: A Dark Reverence
by TorNathan
Summary: Part I (Slight AU) - The Returners have failed at defeating the insane Kefka. A year later, they rejoin forces and learn of the Icularo, a weapon of ages past that can defeat him. Thus, the group splits to search for the Keys to unlock its seal and acquire it to defeat Kefka once and for all. The soul grows and the mind learns as our heroes fight the darkness and yearn for light.


Well, here we all are! Hi, as you know, I am TorNathan. Just call me Nathan, if you so desire! Anyway, here is my first solo project. I have a very serious fic I'm working on with a friend, and you may want to check it out? But we can save that for after the prologue.

This, as is obvious, is a fiction dedicated to Final Fantasy VI. Let me get something straight here . . . it is an AU based off of canon. As in, everything up until the World of Ruin is exactly the same, but after that, the plot changes to how I want it. The characters are the same, the geography is the same, everything . . . but the plot.

Okay, this is going to be a long story, so I hope you're ready and willing! If you're looking just for a quaint thing to read, then look no further. This is going to be complex, long and amazing all in one!

This first chapter is a prologue of sorts, mainly because it is a small chapter and is just to introduce and set up the feel that will be this story. Sometimes my chapters will range from short (5-6k) to long (10k+) . . . so please expect them to vary. They won't always be the same lengths.

This will be updated every one to two weeks (hopefully).

Rated T: Language. Violence. Suggestive Themes. Use of Alcohol.

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First off, I want to do some recognizing. This entire fiction goes out to some very close fan fiction friends of mine (you know who you are) especially my main bro, **The Unknowing Herald**. Merry Christmas, man.

Enjoy!

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**Chapter I**

**A Prologue: Witness the Birth of a God**

_Floating Continent  
__Circa 0_

Terra Branford felt the wind choke her; it was hot and thin. That, combined with the atrocious atmosphere did nothing to alleviate her problems. She had cuts and burns all over her small frame, and her apparel was coming apart. Her leggings were ripping, her red top was coming apart at the seams, and her long blonde hair splayed about her face in thick clumps, her bow having coming undone quite a while ago. The monsters and creatures upon the floating continent were fierce, but it was nothing that her and her allies couldn't handle.

She cautioned a glance over her shoulder. Her now good friend Celes Chere was right behind her, looking a little worse for wear, but they were all that way. The incredulous thief, no, treasure hunter, Locke Cole, was steadily climbing the slopes of rock and debris. Behind him was the womanizer, yet pure at heart King Edgar Roni Figaro. His valiant armor shone in the sun of the World of Balance as he helped his brother, Sabin Rene Figaro, up a small bluff of outcropping rock. His brother wiped the dust from his skin, wearing clothing that barely covered his rigid muscles. He immediately turned around to help up the old sage Strago Magus. Strago got to his feet and wheezed with labor, the air being especially cruel to him. Setzer Gabbiani scrambled to the top, his always immaculate hair now a shamble, his spiffy trench coat tattering at the hem. He twirled around to help the little artist herself, Relm Arrowny, who was clutching the Doberman Interceptor close to her. He yelped angrily, not at her, but at the place they were at. Gau, the wild one, hopped and jumped his way from stone to stone, grunting like an animal as he did so. Cyan struggled his way up, but had to take a breather at the top. His age showed in his lined face. And suddenly, Shadow dove into the ground, landing nimbly as if he had come from nowhere. Mog, her favorite little Moogle, danced his way up, using his floating abilities to help him along the way.

These were her new friends, and she was confident in them. She would trust her life in their hands.

She kind of had to, now.

The two continents lay below them as small patches of earth, but they were in reality great swaths of land, stretching for many miles in many directions. The hot wind blew truculently and sharply, cutting through the heroes, pushing them back from the goal they had worked so hard to obtain. Though Terra would not be stopped, not after what the monsters of the empire had done to her and her friends. Their crimes must be atoned for, and she would be the one to administer it.

"Terra, where to now?" Celes yelled over the whistling wind. Terra scattered her gaze about. The maze of debris and and shattered rock made it nearly impossible to ascertain an actual direction, or even a sense of one for that matter. Lightning suddenly struck one of the many jutting spikes of the distorted continent causing it to crumble. The rocks from the landslide cut off one of the only two paths, making them take the long way around.

"I guess we go this way," Edgar said to them. They all darted into the narrow pathway, having to stay in a single file line, Edgar leading the group and Sabin bringing up the rear. Any monsters they came across were lanced by Edgar or struck down by Terra's magic. The sky above them darkened. It was just past morning, yet it looked as devilish as nighttime. The wind whistled extremely loud as they passed the walls of junk, rocks, and bones. Clouds were forming and the wind picked up. Lighting arced across the sky and rain slowly began to patter.

"Oh great, and now we have horrible weather do deal with?" Locke exclaimed. Lightning struck one of the walls.

"Oou! Gau no like. Scary light! Auou!" Gau said, if you could call it speech.

"Come, Sir Gau, the wrath of the bolts shall not pierce thee if thou art careful," Cyan said, pulling Gau away from the walls. The path led into a long curve.

"Thou, thou!" Gau repeated.

"He certainly likes that word," Strago said. The ground rumbled violently and a massive and angry roar was heard over the wind, seeping terror into Terra's bones. _What abomination was _that_ thing?_

"I'd rather meet every woman I ever had a second time than go against that creature," Sabin said from the rear. The narrow passage amplified their voices, only to be carried upward into the fierce wind above.

"So, if we get out of this alive, Celes . . ." Edgar said.

"No," was her curt reply.

"Fair enough," he answered back. Terra giggled.

"How can you be laughing at a time like this?" Locke asked her. She looked back as they moved along, and she noticed he had acquired a small blush.

"Because I'm with my friends," she said.

"That you are, Terra," Strago said. After a sharp curve, the exit was shown up ahead, and they jogged to finally make it there.

"It's about time," Setzer said as they emerged from the closed quarters of the snakelike path. A long stretch separated them from Emperor Gestahl and Kefka. And something massive was waiting to greet them at the base of the craggy stairs.

"Let's go! On the HUM!" Sabin shouted. Terra could only begin to think as to what that meant.

"Kupo, you speak oddly, kupo," Mog said. Though he could actually talk, "kupo" would show up in his speech; it was only natural. They all ran forward, but were ambushed by some Behemoths. The group stuttered to a halt.

"We don't have time for this!" Celes shrieked, casting a level two Ice spell. At the same time, Terra cast a level two Fire spell. Then to top it off, Shadow launched shurikens at them each, piercing their thick hides, loosing blood onto the dirt, pooling in thick clumps. The strain was too much for them and they died, falling with great thuds into the earth, splashing what blood that had accumulated.

"Okay, now that was too easy," Relm commented.

"We have no time to question that! Let's go!" Strago told his granddaughter. They advanced closer and closer to the gigantic beast waiting at the stairs. More creatures barreled out of the junk, spilling it in all directions.

"Wind Slash!" Strago shouted, causing a tempest of ice and wind, slicing through the enemies. Gau caused the same thing for a double hit, knocking them down to the ground. The group rushed on, pinning their heads to deal the finishing blows as they passed.

"By the gods . . ." Celes muttered.

"That can't be . . ." Locke said.

"I think it is," Terra finished.

The hulking gray mass stood upon six muscled legs, each sprouting razor claws, sharper than daggers. Muscles flexed and stood out all over its body, contracting with every second. A massive tail whipped about from behind as golden tendrils, similar to tentacles, draped the top of its body and spine. It gnashed with fangs and foamed at the mouth. It was vicious, and was capable of demolishing entire settlement and killing hundreds of living beings.

"**I am Ultima!**"

**TA:ADR**

_Vector_

He watched as the skies darkened in a sickening hue. He strolled through the many outdoor corridors of the palace, its washed stone reflecting nothing but despair. But this was the life he had always known. Being born into the empire, he had pretty much been born into service. It's not like he minded, but it dragged him down sometimes. He took his job as captain of the First Patrol Squad seriously, and he had a near spotless record. He was starting to learn magic through the magicites, but it was near futile. They had given him what they called a close relative to Shiva. He was to learn crystalline magic, for that was unknown, and Gestahl thought that he could handle it. He tried, but it was hard.

He liked challenge, though.

So he was learning magic, though he couldn't naturally use it. Only very, very few people like that remained on this scarred world, he thought. Ever since the War of the Magi, magic had ebbed out of the world, the only resources being in the realm of the espers. He watched eagerly at the floating mass high in the sky. If Gestahl got what he wanted, all races were doomed.

He could still remember being a young teenager, not even a man yet, and talking to her. Wasn't Terra her name? He remembered her, and he remembered how he was one of the few people to ever treat her like a human. Well, she wasn't human, so maybe he was one of the only people to have treated her like she had feelings, a soul. He did this seldom for he was afraid of what the consequences would have been. Also, it never mattered. Her mind had been turned into mush, the slave crown she wore cutting all her though, emotion, cognition, everything. He sympathized for her, but he continued on his training and did not worry about it too much. At that time in his life, everything was "perfect," and that's how it should have been. How naïve he had been.

"Captain!" a recruit beckoned him. He turned at the gateway opening into the market and residency of Vector.

"Yes?" he said with a sigh.

"What are we to do until his Lord Gestahl returns?" the boy asked him. This "boy" was a year older than he himself. He looked at the twenty-year-old with a hard look. How was he to make such decisions at nineteen?

"Just be at ease. Be ready at a moment's notice, but relax for now. I'm sure everything will go according to plan with His Majesty and Kefka doing this themselves," he reassured the boy.

"Yes sir!" he saluted, about-facing and trotting away, meeting up with some of the other recruits. He watched them go away, and he watched the sky darken.

Rain began to fall.

"Oh great, I hate rainy mornings," he muttered, walking into the palace grounds, heading for the barracks. The ground was soft underfoot and the dust pattered into small clouds, like wisps of smoke from pipes of men smoked at the taverns and inns—how those men would laugh and grab at the dancers, guttural laughing emitting with the occasional hack and cough from the tobacco. He thought about the few times he had went, never drinking ale, for he just didn't do that. His eyes would travel from woman to woman, but he never advanced, let alone playfully grabbed them. This was his life, and he was accustomed to it. Hell, he actually enjoyed his life. Yeah, it had its ups and downs to it, but overall, he enjoyed it. It could be worse.

At the barracks, he changed out of his dashing metal armor and adorned his nice leather armor, which had been built to be water resistant, unlike the metal. He added a mental note to ask Kefka to do that for him. Fat chance that was, but it wouldn't hurt to ask . . . or maybe it would. He chuckled at his own thought, earning a small arched eyebrow form the attendee boy, a boy no older than thirteen.

That would be the last time he would ever see the boy before the child would die.

He strolled out into the grounds again, the rain picking up slightly. He moved his brown hair out of his eyes, the spikes damping down as his shoulder-length hair lay down from the dampness. His brown eyes pierced the market place, watching as people finished their business in a hurry, waiting to get home to lunch with their families, waiting to escape the storm. His slightly tanned white skin covered hard muscles underneath, acquired from years of training in the empire. Right now, all the people in the city seemed to be out, rushing . . . and then it happened.

He felt the ground quake. This was common because of the tectonic activity far to the north, but this was a lot more unstable than usual. Another tremor racketed through the ground, and then, down the street, a house caved in. He whipped around and ran onto the grounds.

"All soldiers! Help the citizens, now!" he ordered, and so they listened. They ran out, even the small attendee, to help the people of Vector. Suddenly, a large crack ran through the center of the town square, and the land split. Houses started to crumble, falling apart and crushing citizens. The youth watched as the small boy fell into that crevice, his screams echoing into nothing.

"Hurry!" he yelled. A woman slipped and felling into the crack, but she had grabbed the ledge in time. He ran as fast as he could and helped her up. Just as she had her feet on the ground again, the crevice roared with flames, large chunks of molten rock flying out, like a volcano. House went aflame if they were unlucky enough to be wooden. Stone houses were demolished and Vector was coming apart. The woman he had just saved had been blasted with a large rock, murdering her instantly.

"Captain! We have to get back to the castle! The higher ground is more stable!" some recruit yelled at him. He paid it no mind as he had to save another child from another crack forming.

"CAPTAIN!"

"Go soldier!" he yelled.

The land was splitting. The southern half of the square separated, moving away from the palace and the land to the north.

_What is happening!?_

He looked in shock and glance up. The storm was fierce above the floating continent. A recruit was yelling him. He watched as more people slipped into the crack, engulfed by the hellfire. Houses started falling in, debris being steeped. Screams reverberated in the air and there was nothing he could do. Not a damn thing, and he felt that shame burn into him like the very fires that had consumed the attendee.

_"Here you go, captain, just your favorite!"_

_ "Thanks, kid," and he had ruffled the boy's hair._

"Captain!" A hand snatched his wrist and pulled. He was reluctant, but his feet gave a little.

"Captain Verus, we have to go, now!"

And so he went, tears running down his face as countless civilians perished.

**TA:ADR**

_Floating Continent_

"**I am Ultima! I am power both ancient and unrivaled!**" Its very voice shook the ground and flared the sky. Fire brimmed around it as electricity arced about its body. Its red eyes of hate overflowed power and its stature demanded respect and authority. The party braced themselves, readying their weapons.

"**I do not bleed, for I am but strength given form! Feeble creatures of flesh . . . your time is nigh!**" Ultima roared, and it reared, crashing back into the ground. The shock wave of that alone sent Terra and the rest flying backward into the ground and corpses of their downed enemies. They struggled to their feet, the ground shaking as it lumbered to them. Terra took this time to get a good look over her surroundings.

There were mountains of rubble, yes, but they were jagged, easy stepping stones for quick feet. Shadow must have read her thoughts for he had ascended. Shurikens whistled from the sky and into Ultima's back, causing it to hiss in pain. It seemed as though this only irritated the beast.

"**I shall kill you first, assassin,**" it proclaimed, whipping its head around at astonishing speed. This was the chance that the rest of the party got. They all rushed around the creature, sizing it up before the assault commenced. Shadow launched his body away from the peak, only for it to be decimated as a Flare spell collided with it, disintegrating everything in its path. From above he hurled a Holy Saber into its spine. A roar escaped its throat.

Locke daringly rolled underneath the creature, bringing two poison-tipped daggers up to meet its belly. If anything of this monster was soft, that would be the best bet. He pierced the hide and blood—thick and purple like the sky above—oozed slowly out of it. Terra didn't think poison would affect it, but those were sharp daggers. It raised a leg and tried to slash at Locke. The thief agilely rolled away, giving Celes and Terra a chance to hurt it more.

"Ice!" both Terra and Celes shouted. They covered the creatures right forearm in ice. It crashed down, but did not shatter the frosting. The twins Edgar and Sabin ran on the opposite sides of the leg. Edgar stabbed the leg with all of his might while Sabin used his Raging Fist ability. Cyan finished up with one of his ancient swordsman techniques. The abilities all combined shattered the leg completely in a spray of shards. This caused Ultima to release an almighty roar of rage. The guys backtracked out of there while the mages and rangers all kept up their assaults, slowly but surely affecting it.

"Okay, let's keep it up!" Terra shouted, or more like ordered. The creature, surprisingly enough, was barely hindered by the loss of its leg. In fact, its efforts seemed renewed as it continued its attack with a new vigor unlike before.

"OUH! Scared! Ouch! Gau scared!" Gau shrieked as his attempts of rage were diminishing. Cyan took him away for a moment to heal him with an elixir, hoping to help the boy.

Aura BOLT!" Sabin declared blasting it with energy, then moving with incredible speeds along Ultima's body, punching, kicking, and whirling his way through the defenses, looking for any weak points. And it seemed he had hit them, for the creature stuttered back a bit, then—

"Aura BOLT!" Sabin then caused a ray of powerful energy again to crash into the beast. It got knocked to its knees, but it wouldn't be for long.

"There! Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine!" Relm shouted, having Sketched the monster. A flare as intense as the sun was cast upon Ultima, and it shrieked in severe pain. Everyone was knocked back from the explosion, and as vision slowly returned, so did sound and the wind.

The rain was heavy now.

"Blast this rain!" Strago said, his wiry white hair stringing his face. Terra almost would have laughed had it not been the situation that it was. She dodged a spell from Ultima as it slowly rose to its feet.

"**FLARE!**" it boomed, aiming right at her. Before Terra could understand what was happening, Celes had crashed into her, moving her out of the way before a massive hole was vaporized into the continent. Anyone who fell in there would fall to their ultimate death.

"**You all are beginning to annoy me,**" it said.

"Kupo, Edgar! Shall we jump into the heavens?!" Mog shouted. Terra looked over to them.

"That we shall, little one," Edgar said, throwing Mog a spear as they both jumped, flying high and vanishing into the clouds.

"Let's get this creature ready for their return!" Terra shouted. "Sabin, Setzer, Strago, Gau, to his right!" Everyone knew what she wanted and meant. She and the ones she hadn't named were to distract it.

"Die," Shadow simply stated, throwing a saber into the thing's skull. It rebounded the head slightly before it whipped its head around to face Terra, Celes, Locke, Shadow, Relm, and Cyan. Its eyes burned with hatred.

"**Enough of you! DIE!**" it screamed. Its mouth opened wide, and an energy like no other began to form.

"Now!" Terra screamed, worry etching into her being.

"Aura BOLT!" Sabin yelled, rushing forward into Ultima's side, blowing it away at point blank range. Gau caused a landslide of rocks to hurl into it with his special form of magic that the group had titled his "Rages," and Strago began to conjure a powerful wind. This went swept with the rocks, hurling them faster at Ultima, along with his own shards of sharp ice.

"Lady Luck be with me," Setzer whispered, letting his cards whirl around him like an aura, whistling and slicing the air about him. Rays of energy burst from the cards, bashing into Ultima. The creature teetered from all of the combined force. Sabin back flipped and cast Aura Bolt in the air, exploding into the creature. Ultima thundered into the ground, uplifting dirt and dust in its own storm.

"Here . . . we . . . COME!" Edgar and Mog shouted. Ultima had rolled onto its back and here they came. There was an earsplitting screech as the twin lances of Edgar and Mog buried themselves deep into the monster. Blood began to fountain out, pooling into the ground and splashing many of the party. It twisted and writhed from underneath, but to no avail. It seemed as if they had pierced something vital. Maybe it was the heart? Terra didn't care, as long as it died.

"**No! Killed by filthy mortals! I hope you perish in hell for all eternity!**" it shouted in one last effort. Edgar and Mog wrenched the lances out with a sickening squish of blood and organs. The beast was still, and the rain poured heavily, mixing with the blood.

The wind sang.

Terra helped her friends recuperate, but only for so long. Now was the time they had worked so hard for. Now was the time to end treachery and end evil. She looked up and saw Kefka in his robes, jaunty and crazy. And Emperor Gestahl was marveling at the statues, taking his sweet time.

"Let's go!" she said, and so they did.

The ground underneath splashed as they ran through the puddles of the storm.

"I never bargained for such things! This is where I take my leave!" Shadow suddenly exclaimed, hopping off the main track and disappearing into the rubble of ruin.

"Shadow! Get back here!" Sabin yelled after him, but it was no use. Interceptor, Shadow's beloved dog, yelped and whimpered, only being somewhat comforted by Relm.

"It's not under our control. We must go on!" Terra told them. They all turned back to the course and ascended the stairs up to the leveling, where they were met with Kefka, Emperor Gestahl, and the Warring Triad itself. The great statues stood erect in a triangle facing each other; one of a goddess, one of a beast, and one of a demon of doom. Pure magical energy swirled between them in shimmering light. It would have been awe inspiring, but again, Terra was focused on the situation at hand.

"Well, well," Gestahl began. "Fwa, ha, ha! You're just in time to perish! Behold the Statues!" he shouted maniacally. His red vest was covered with a black and red-trimmed robe. Golden tassels hung from his apparel in numerous places. His white beard whipped in the strong wind, and his old voice sounded like death itself. He turned and faced the statues, holding his arms out.

"Ooh! I have goosebumps! Such power!" he stated. Terra could only watch, fear flooding her eyes. It was too late. They had failed.

"Emperor! Please, stop this madness!" Celes begged of him, using what authority she used to have to try and make him listen. Terra grabbed her arm before she could move too far forward.

"No!" Locke exclaimed, shoving Celes out of the way as a beam of power shot from Gestahl's fingers. Locke had been knocked out cold as Celes rolled in the dirt, coughing and spluttering. Then, one by one, Gestahl beamed down each member of the Returners. Terra watched in shocked awe as her friends were mercilessly eradicated into the ground, and as easily as if he were swatting flies. Terra was the next to be shot down, and she was able to keep her consciousness, and it seemed that some others were, too. Celes rose to her feet and stood between her comrades and Gestahl.

"Celes! Come to me, my pretty!" Gestahl sickly said, cackling as he did so. Terra thought she could see disgust rip across Celes' face.

"You and Kefka were given life to serve me! It is your birthright to rule the world with me!" he stated, and Kefka cackled that high pitched laugh that sent shivers down Terra's spine. Memories tried to flood her, but not today. Not now. She needed to be strong.

"Kill the others and we'll forget your treachery," Kefka said, laughing as shrilly as the wind. "Take this sword and take care of them! Immediately!" he ordered. She slowly walked his way and took the Emperor's sword. She held it there, and Terra watched with fascination and horror as she nodded and turned around, slowly walking towards the first one, the closest one . . .

Locke.

"Celes, together we can rule an entire world! Think of it!" Gestahl said with his silver tongue. She raised the sword and stopped. The wind howled and the rain pelted the ground. Celes looked like a discarded angel.

"P- please Celes . . ." Locke whispered.

"Power only breeds war. I wish . . . I wish I had never been born," she said. The wind whistled and the rain cascaded. Terra saw her eyes flash.

In a sudden movement, Celes swirled around in an arc, her hair fanning out. She lunged with frightful speed and stabbed Kefka in the leg, blood spurting from the wound. But Terra knew better. This was Kefka, and he was amazingly strong. It would take more. She slowly backed up, leaving the sword in his leg. He looked down at it and was hissing in pain. He ripped it out of his leg and threw it to the ground. Green tendrils wrapped around his leg.

"Ouch!" he screamed, beginning to run back and forth. "B- blood!? You vicious brat!" he shrieked.

"I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE YOU!" he screamed, rasping his voice in the process. He turned around as the group slowly began to get up. The Emperor just stood by. Terra was dreading what was about to happen, She knew what that monster was capable of when pushed too far.

"Goddesses! You were born only to fight. I implore you . . . show me your power! I command you! Give me your power!" he ordered, standing in the swirling flush of light and magic. The statues flashed, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Listen to me or you'll regret it! Give. Me. POWER!" he shouted. Gestahl finally stepped in.

"Kefka, stop it! Revive those statues and you'll destroy the very world we're trying to possess!" Gestahl reasoned, if anything was left in him other than madness. Terra, without taking her eyes off of them, had begun to heal her friends, one by one.

"Shut up!" Kefka blared. And then Terra watched as they began to fight, something she would never had expected.

Gestahl had cast a Fire spell at Kefka, only for it to not even phase him. Kefka merely laughed and struck the Emperor. Gestahl retorted with a massive spell of meteors, but that was no good. Kefka brushed it off and really hit home on the Emperor. Then, Gestahl pulled out a level five Flash and Meltdown at once, knocking them both into Kefka. He just stood there and laughed.

"Now, Statues! You have shown me a sign, and now show this old man your true power!" Kefka ordered. Bolts of pure energy racketed from the heavens and the storm became an inferno of power. The rain fell in buckets and the wind rushed. Gestahl dodged as many as he could, but he slipped and one stuck him in the chest, ending his motion. Kefka cackled into the sky.

"There'll be no one to worship us . . ." Gestahl barely breathed. Kefka gave him a sadistic look. He raised his hands and Gestahl rose into the air.

"What do you mean _us_? I am the god here, not you. You'll be but a happy memory in the minds of all once I'm finished with this world. You have always been in my way. Read my lips, mercy is for wimps. There is a reason oppose rhymes with dispose . . . if someone stands in your way, kill them!" Kefka shouted, a crazy hunger filling his eyes. Then, Gestahl burst into flames, his body twirling and shrieking, as lightning began to strike it.

"Oh my, Relm look away," Terra said, shielding her eyes. Terra thought she would be sick.

"Bye, bye old man!" Kefka shouted. Suddenly, the Emperor's sword rose in the air, burst into flames and arced with lightning, and surged toward Gestahl. It skewered threw his chest and it hurled the smoldering body of Gestahl off the floating continent, to strike the land below.

Kefka was in charge now.

"Snap out of it, Kefka!" Celes said, charging up to him. He simply waved her away, literally. Her body flew away at the wave of his hand. He stood in the middle of the statues. The group began to move toward him, ready to fight them in any way they could.

"Not so fast!" he shouted, striking them all down again, leaving them helpless. He turned once again and now began to move the statues, disrupting their balance. _And if he does that,_ Terra thought,_ he'll rip the world asunder._

As he was doing this—

"Shadow!" Terra heard herself yell, as he descended, moving the statues back. Somehow, this simple act broke Kefka's train of thought, and they could all move again.

"Go! Now! There are people counting on you all!" he yelled at them from behind his helm. "Don't worry about me, I'll see you all again! I promise!" he shouted, struggling with Kefka. Terra had no choice but to heed his words. The continent was shaking and the storm raged fiercely. They ran as fast as they could to where the Blackjack was "parked" underneath the landmass. They dodged crumbling mountains and debris, bolting lightning and fierce winds. Everything was coming apart, even the world below. Then came the ledge.

Setzer jumped off immediately, going to his baby to get ready for leaving. Everyone else followed suit, Edgar holding Relm and Sabin holding Interceptor. Only Terra and Celes remained.

"What are you waiting for!? Jump!" Celes yelled.

"I'm not leaving without Shadow!" Terra yelled back. He had to survive, just had to.

And speaking of, here he came, armor slightly ripped up, but he was coming at full speed. He grabbed each girl, one under each arm, and jumped.

Something, though, was happening to the Blackjack. The power of the Triad was distorting it, but that was the least of Terra's worries. She looked over the railing and watched as the world began to quake and the continents began to shift and split apart. Fire blazed upon the surface as it rearranged itself. The Blackjack then lurched violently and begun to spin out of control. Terra and Celes locked hands.

"We're going to make it through this, okay Terra? I promise!"

"I know!" Terra shouted, but then the Blackjack blasted away from the continent and tore apart, sending the party away, scattering in different directions. Terra summoned all the magic and power she possibly could and cast protective Shell spells around her friends just as her and Celes' hands broke apart.

And the world, too, broke apart.

No longer was it the World of Balance. Now . . . now it was the World of Ruin.

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**Post Note:**

There we go, the first chapter! What a rip-roarer to start this fic, eh? We had a lot of action, introductions to the cast, and all around destruction of a world. Yeah, it had to be done. In the upcoming chapters we will see the plot hold true, but start to alter slightly. Things will become their own!

Okay, so . . . if you have any comments, questions, concerns, suggestions, criticism, etc . . . Leave them in the box below!  
I want to hear everything you though about the story! I want the good and the bad (even from you Herald) and I want to grow!

Thank you for sticking around until the end of the chapter! I hope you liked it!  
Also, let me know if you like the picture? If you have suggestions for a better one, please let me know!  
Also, check out my Kingdom Hearts fiction! Just visit my profile to find it!

I'll see you in: _Chapter II: One Year Later_

* * *

May the Love of Anuwëy guide you when all Hope is lost

TorNathan


End file.
